SSC Tuatara Striker

 

The next rare and extraordinary supercar that I saw in person for the first time at this year's Exotics on Broadway that I want to feature here is the SSC Tuatara Striker. SSC first previewed the Tuatara in concept form in 2011 as a replacement for the American supercar company's first supercar, the Ultimate Aero. The Tuatara was then first unveiled in production form in 2018, with production officially beginning in 2020. The specific version of the SSC Tuatara that I saw up close and on display at this year's Exotics on Broadway show was the Striker, which was added to the Tuatara portfolio in 2021 and is the high-downforce model that features an aggressive body kit most distinguished by a large fixed rear wing and a prominent front splitter, side skirts, and rear diffuser. Powering the SSC Tuatara is a 5.9-liter twin-turbo V8 with 1,350 horsepower and 984 pound-feet of torque on 91 octane and up to 1,750 horsepower and 1,322 pound-feet of torque on E85, sending power to the rear wheels through a seven-speed automated manual transmission. The Tuatara is capable of a zero-to-60-mph time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of 270 mph, with one real-world test run confirming a top speed of 286 mph, making it one of the absolute quickest and fastest cars in the world. Like many similar supercars and hypercars, the SSC Tuatara is composed entirely of carbon fiber and sits on a carbon fiber monocoque chassis. Its high-downforce aero kit provides roughly 1,100 pounds of downforce at 160 mph, distributing 45.4% of the downforce to the front axle and 54.6% of the downforce to the rear axle.

SSC will build only 100 Tuataras and Tuatara Strikers, along with 10 track-only Tuatara Aggressors. Each Tuatara and Tuatara Striker is priced at around $1.9 million. I remember first hearing about the SSC Tuatara a while back around its concept and infancy stages, but only in the past few years has it fully developed into production form, with some examples already delivered to customers. Besides the hypercars from this year's Exotics on Broadway show that I previously covered on this site, the SSC Tuatara Striker was one of the coolest and most unique vehicles there, especially out of the American hypercars and those that I saw in person for the first time. In all, they may not be super well-known, but the SSC Tuatara and Tuatara Striker are nothing short of otherworldly, mind-boggling, and impressive.

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